Gianandrea Noseda - Petrassi: Magnificat - Salmo IX° (2013)

This recording forms part of our ongoing Italian Music series, fronted by the conductor Gianandrea Noseda. So far, we have examined the music of many prominent Italian composers of the twentieth century, such as Respighi, Wolf-Ferrari, Casella, and Dallapiccola, as well as the great nineteenth-century master, Verdi. Noseda and his Italian forces here turn to choral works by Goffredo Petrassi, a composer who, despite being a relatively late bloomer, developed into one of the country’s most significant composers of the mid- to late-twentieth century.
In the English-speaking world, his contemporary Luigi Dallapiccola may be better known, but Petrassi was just as highly regarded in his home country. His music, inspired by Stravinsky and Hindemith, is dynamic and colourful. While Psalm IX, in two parts, is scored for chorus, string orchestra, brass, percussion, and two pianos, the Magnificat involves the full orchestra as well as chorus and a soprano leggero.

Both are performed by the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Regio in Turin under their Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda, ensuring entirely idiomatic interpretations. Since he became an exclusive artist of Chandos in 2002, Noseda has recorded works by Prokofiev, Karowicz, Dvorák, Smetana, Shostakovich, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, and Bartók, as well as the Italian series discussed here.